Books like 'He'd Rather Be Dead'
Readers who enjoyed He'd Rather Be Dead by George Bellairs also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical mystery 20th century military, war & conflict crime classics golden-age-mystery war suspense police-procedural
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Five Decembers by James Kestrel
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn this novel of World War II, an American police detective trapped while trailing a killer overseas struggles to survive with only the help of a total stranger and his daughter, who risk their lives to protect him. December 1941. America teeters on the brink of war, and in Honolulu, Hawaii, police detective Joe McGrady is assigned to investigate a homicide that will change his life forever...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![A Sunlit Weapon by Jacqueline Winspear, Orlagh Cassidy]()
A Sunlit Weapon by Jacqueline Winspear, Orlagh Cassidy
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series, a series of possible attacks on British pilots leads Jacqueline Winspear's beloved heroine Maisie Dobbs into a mystery involving First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.October 1942... -
![Close Combat by W.E.B. Griffin, Dick Hill]()
Close Combat by W.E.B. Griffin, Dick Hill
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBestselling author W.E.B. Griffin's epic sixth novel in THE CORPS series—a powerful, dramatic tribute to the courageous men and women who braved WWII... -
![Behind the Lines by W.E.B. Griffin]()
Behind the Lines by W.E.B. Griffin
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBehind the Lines is W. E. B. Griffin's powerful novel of World War II -- and the courage, patriotism, and sacrifice of those who fought it.By 1942, the Japanese have routed the outnumbered American forces and conquered the Philippines. But deep in the island jungles, the combat continues. Refusing to surrender, a renegade Army officer organizes a resistance force and vows to fight to the last man... -
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![The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear]()
The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsBeloved heroine Maisie Dobbs, “one of the great fictional heroines” (Parade), investigates the mysterious murder of an American war correspondent in London during the Blitz in a page-turning tale of love and war, terror and survival... -
![The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear]()
The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAs Europe buckles under Nazi occupation, Maisie Dobbs investigates a possible murder that threatens devastating repercussions for Britain's war efforts in this latest installment in the New York Times bestselling mystery series.September 1941. While on a delivery, young Freddie Hackett, a message runner for a government office, witnesses an argument that ends in murder... -
![The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear]()
The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe story opens in August 1914 in the Santa Ynez Valley in California. Michael Clifton—youngest son of an Englishman who had emigrated to America when he was in his late teens, in search of his fortune—has just purchased a tract of land he believes is rich with oil. Fate steps in when Michael learns Britain is going to war in Europe... -
![Prussian Blue by Philip Kerr]()
Prussian Blue by Philip Kerr
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom New York Times–bestselling author Philip Kerr, the much-anticipated return of Bernie Gunther, our compromised former Berlin bull and unwilling SS officer. With his cover blown, he is waiting for the next move in the cat-and-mouse game that, even a decade after Germany’s defeat, continues to shadow his life...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty]()
Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBelfast 1988: A man is found dead, killed with a bolt from a crossbow in front of his house. This is no hunting accident. But uncovering who is responsible for the murder will take Detective Sean Duffy down his most dangerous road yet, a road that leads to a lonely clearing on a high bog where three masked gunmen will force Duffy to dig his own grave...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Kindred by Steve Robinson]()
Kindred by Steve Robinson
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsJefferson Tayte is good at finding people who don’t want to be found. For years he has followed faint genealogical trails to reunite families—and uncover long-hidden secrets. But Tayte is a loner, a man with no ties of his own; his true identity is the most elusive case of his career. But that could all be about to change... -
![Justice Hall by Laurie R. King]()
Justice Hall by Laurie R. King
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsOnly hours after Holmes and Russell return from solving one murky riddle on the moor, another knocks on their front door...literally. It's a mystery that begins during the Great War, when Gabriel Hughenfort died amidst scandalous rumors that have haunted the family ever since... -
![To Die But Once by Jacqueline Winspear]()
To Die But Once by Jacqueline Winspear
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDuring the months following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany, Maisie Dobbs investigates the disappearance of a young apprentice working on a hush-hush government contract... -
![Black Cross by Greg Iles]()
Black Cross by Greg Iles
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIt is January 1944 — and as Allied troops prepare for D-day, Nazi scientists develop a toxic nerve gas that will repel and wipe out any invasion force. To salvage the planned assault, two vastly different but equally determined men are sent to infiltrate the secret concentration camp where the poison gas is being perfected on human subjects... -
![The Unlikely Spy by Daniel Silva]()
The Unlikely Spy by Daniel Silva
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratings"In wartime," Winston Churchill wrote, "truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies."For Britain's counterintelligence operations, this meant finding the unlikeliest agent imaginable-a history professor named Alfred Vicary, handpicked by Churchill himself to expose a highly dangerous, but unknown, traitor...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement suspense war 20th-century action-adventure adult assassinations -
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![A Game of Fear by Charles Todd]()
A Game of Fear by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn this newest installment of the acclaimed New York Times bestselling series, Scotland Yard’s Ian Rutledge is faced with his most perplexing case yet: a murder with no body, and a killer who can only be a ghost.Spring, 1921... -
![Special Ops by W.E.B. Griffin]()
Special Ops by W.E.B. Griffin
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsW.E.B. Griffin returns to the series that launched his phenomenal career-- in an explosive new novel that pits a team of Special Forces warriors against the legendary revolutionary Che Guevara...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Wild Blue Yonder by M.W. Arnold]()
Wild Blue Yonder by M.W. Arnold
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAir Transport Auxiliary pilot Doris Winter is accused of stealing a valuable item from a famous Hollywood movie star, now a captain in the US Army Air Corps, after a dance at the air base in England where he's stationed. Gathering her close friends together, she's determined to clear her name... -
![In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear]()
In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAs Britain becomes engulfed in a second World War, the indomitable Maisie Dobbs is plunged into a treacherous battle of her own when she stumbles upon the deaths of refugees who may have been more than ordinary people seeking sanctuary on English soil, in this enthralling chapter in Jacqueline Winspear’s enormously popular New York Times bestselling seriesCritics have long sung the praises of... -
![Word of Honor by Nelson DeMille, Brian Murray]()
Word of Honor by Nelson DeMille, Brian Murray
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsHe is a good man, a brilliant corporate executive, an honest, handsome family man admired by men and desired by women. But a lifetime ago Ben Tyson was a lieutenant in Vietnam. There the men under his command committed a murderous atrocity--and together swore never to tell the world what they had done. Now the press, army justice, and the events he tried to forget have caught up with Ben Tyson... -
![The New Breed by W.E.B. Griffin]()
The New Breed by W.E.B. Griffin
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsFrom the blistering jungles of Vietnam to the far-flung battlefields of the African Congo, they faced the turmoil of a new era. It was a different kind of war. But the courage and skill of these young fighting men were an American tradition. Like their fathers before them, they rose up to the ultimate challenge of military valor, holding their own in a storm of clashing cultures... -
![The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth]()
The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsThe suicide of an elderly German Jew explodes into revelation after revelation: a Mafia-like organization called Odessa, a real-life fugitive known at the "Butcher of Riga", a young German journalist turned obsessed avenger...and ultimately, of a brilliant, ruthless plot to reestablish the worldwide power of SS mass murders and to carry out Hitler's chilling "Final Solution... -
![Pacific Glory by P.T. Deutermann]()
Pacific Glory by P.T. Deutermann
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA thrilling, multi-layered World War II adventure following two men and an unforgettable woman, from Pearl Harbor through the most dramatic air and sea battles of the war Marsh, Mick, and Tommy were inseparable friends during their naval academy years, each man desperately in love with the beautiful, unattainable Glory Hawthorne... -
![Dead of Night by Simon Scarrow]()
Dead of Night by Simon Scarrow
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAs Germany strangles under the tight grip of the Nazi Party, the frozen winter of 1940 brings even more reasons to fear the dark in the crackling new WWII crime novel from #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Simon Scarrow – perfect for fans of Philip Kerr’s Berlin Trilogy, Robert Ludlum, Andrew Gross, and William Christie… One freezing night in 1940 Berlin, an SS doctor and his wife return from...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement war police-procedural suspense historical-fiction fiction mystery -
![A Quiet Flame by Philip Kerr]()
A Quiet Flame by Philip Kerr
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPhilip Kerr returns with his best-loved character, Bernie Gunther, in the fifth novel in what is now a series: a tight, twisting, compelling thriller that is firmly rooted in history.A Quiet Flame opens in 1950... -
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![Run Silent Run Deep by Edward L. Beach]()
Run Silent Run Deep by Edward L. Beach
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCommander Edward Richardson and his exec, Jim Bledsoe, are bound together by wartime duty, divided by jealousy, pride and love for one beautiful woman. Their home is the USS Walrus, part of the "silent service" engaged in a crucial drive to destroy the Japanese navy in the dark days of WW II... -
![Field Gray by Philip Kerr]()
Field Gray by Philip Kerr
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPhilip Kerr delivers a novel with the noir sensibility of Raymond Chandler, the realpolitik of vintage John le Carré, and the dark moral vision of Graham Greene...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![A Long Shadow by Charles Todd]()
A Long Shadow by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"New Year's Eve, 1919. Scotland Yard's Inspector Ian Rutledge has accompanied his sister to the home of mutual friends for dinner but is called away by work. On the steps outside, he finds a brass cartridge casing that is seemingly identical to the countless others he'd seen during the war he still cannot forget. But this one has an engraving in the metal. Curious, he pockets it...Categorized as:
cozy crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense war 20th-century action-adventure -
![Legacy of the Dead by Charles Todd]()
Legacy of the Dead by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe weathered remains found on a Scottish mountainside may be those of Eleanor Gray, but the imperious Lady Maude Gray, Eleanor's mother, will have to be handled delicately. This is not the only ground that Inspector Ian Rutledge of Scotland Yard must tread carefully, for the case will soon lead him to Scotland, where many of Rutledge's ghosts rest uneasily... -
![Metropolis by Philip Kerr, John Lee]()
Metropolis by Philip Kerr, John Lee
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBerlin, 1928, the dying days of the Weimar Republic shortly before Hitler and the Nazis came to power. It was a period of decadence and excess as Berliners - after the terrible slaughter of WWI and the hardships that followed - are enjoying their own version of Babylon. Bernie is a young detective working in Vice when he gets a summons from Bernard Weiss, Chief of Berlin's Criminal Police... -
![A Cold Treachery by Charles Todd]()
A Cold Treachery by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCalled out by Scotland Yard into the teeth of a violent blizzard in the Lake District of England, Inspector Ian Rutledge finds himself confronted with one of the most savage murders he has ever encountered. Rutledge might have expected such unspeakable carnage on the World War I battlefields, but not in an otherwise peaceful farm kitchen in remote Urskdale... -
![A Divided Loyalty by Charles Todd]()
A Divided Loyalty by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsScotland Yard detective Ian Rutledge is assigned one of the most baffling investigations of his career—a cold murder case with an unidentified victim and a cold trail with few clues to follow.Chief Inspector Brian Leslie, a respected colleague of Ian Rutledge’s, is sent to Avebury, a village set inside a great prehistoric stone circle not far from Stonehenge...Categorized as:
cozy crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense war 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Black Ascot by Charles Todd]()
The Black Ascot by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsScotland Yard’s Ian Rutledge seeks a killer who has eluded Scotland Yard for years in this next installment of the acclaimed New York Times bestselling series.An astonishing tip from a grateful ex-convict seems implausible—but Inspector Ian Rutledge is intrigued and brings it to his superior at Scotland Yard... -
![The Leper of Saint Giles by Ellis Peters]()
The Leper of Saint Giles by Ellis Peters
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsOctober 1139. A savage murder interrupts an ill-fated marriage set to take place at Brother Cadfael's abbey, leaving the monk with a terrible mystery to solve. The key to the killing is hidden among the inhabitants of the Saint Giles leper colony, and Brother Cadfael must ferret out a sickness not of the body, but of a twisted mind... -
![The Guns of Navarone by Alistair MacLean]()
The Guns of Navarone by Alistair MacLean
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAn entire navy had tried to silence the guns of Navarone and failed. Full-scale attacks had been driven back. Now they were sending in just five men, each one a specialist in dealing death... -
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![An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear]()
An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIn her fifth outing, Maisie Dobbs, the extraordinary Psychologist and Investigator, delves into a strange series of crimes in a small rural community.With the country in the grip of economic malaise, and worried about her business, Maisie Dobbs is relieved to accept an apparently straightforward assignment from an old friend to investigate certain matters concerning a potential land purchase... -
![As the Crow Flies by Jeffrey Archer]()
As the Crow Flies by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsGrowing up in the slums of East End London, Charlie Trumper dreams of someday running his grandfather's fruit and vegetable barrow. That day comes suddenly when his grandfather dies leaving him the floundering business. With the help of Becky Salmon, an enterprising young woman, Charlie sets out to make a name for himself as "The Honest Trader"... -
![Spoils of Victory: A Mason Collins Novel by John A. Connell]()
Spoils of Victory: A Mason Collins Novel by John A. Connell
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom the author of Ruins of War comes an electrifying novel featuring U.S. Army criminal investigator Mason Collins, set in the chaos of post-World War II Germany. When the Third Reich collapsed, the small town Garmisch-Partenkirchen became the home of fleeing war criminals, making it the final depository for the Nazis’ stolen riches. There are fortunes to be made on the black market...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Invitation to Valhalla by Mike Whicker]()
Invitation to Valhalla by Mike Whicker
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsErika Lehmann. She is the Nazis' top spy. Code-named Lorelei, she is the English speaking daughter of Hitler's old comrade and a member of the Fuhrer's inner circle. She is beautiful, athletic, and clever--the epitome of Aryan womanhood. She'll stop at nothing to accomplish her mission, including masquerading as a Jew. Joe Mayer... -
![The Quiet Librarian by Allen Eskens]()
The Quiet Librarian by Allen Eskens
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAfter the murder of her best friend, a librarian’s search for answers leads back to her own dark secrets in this sweeping novel about a woman transformed by war, family, vengeance, and love, from award-winning writer Allen Eskens.Hana Babic is a quiet, middle-aged librarian in Minnesota who wants nothing more than to be left alone... -
![Sharpe's Honor by Bernard Cornwell]()
Sharpe's Honor by Bernard Cornwell
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsThe Vittoria Campaign is February to June 1813. Victory depends on the increasingly fragile alliance between Britain and Spain. Majpr Sharpe's enemy, Pierre Ducos, seizes a chance to both destroy the alliance and take revenge on Sharpe. The lovely spy, La Marquesa, traps Sharpe in a web of deadly intrigue; he is hunted by allies and enemies alike... -
![A Thousand Devils by Frank Goldammer, Steve Anderson]()
A Thousand Devils by Frank Goldammer, Steve Anderson
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA disturbing murder reveals a high-stakes conspiracy among the ruins of postwar Dresden.Two years after the firebombing that devastated the historic East German city, the suffering continues in the throes of a brutal winter. The wary and exhausted citizens scramble to survive, wolf packs of orphans scavenge for food, and Detective Max Heller is called to the scene of a savage murder... -
![Ashes in the Snow by Oriana Ramunno]()
Ashes in the Snow by Oriana Ramunno
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAuschwitz, 1943.It’s snowing outside and Block 10 looks even bleaker than usual. Gioele Errera, a young Jewish boy imprisoned in the camp, finds the body of an SS officer. Detective Hugo Fischer is sent to investigate the unexplained death of the renowned Nazi. But Hugo is hiding a secret – he is suffering from a degenerative disease... -
![Murder at the White Palace by Allison Montclair]()
Murder at the White Palace by Allison Montclair
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn post-WWII London, the matchmakers of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau are involved in yet another murder.In the immediate post-war days of London, two unlikely partners have undertaken an even more unlikely, if necessary, business venture—The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. The two partners are Miss Iris Sparks, a woman with a dangerous—and never discussed—past in British intelligence and Mrs... -
![One Final Turn by Ashley Weaver]()
One Final Turn by Ashley Weaver
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe fifth and final installment in the Electra McDonnell series brings safecracker Ellie on a mission across World War II-era Europe to Lisbon, Portugal to rescue a key group of escaped POWs.Ellie McDonnell is about to embark on her most perilous mission go to Lisbon, Portugal to save her beloved cousin Toby who has reportedly escaped from a German prisoner of war camp... -
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![The Twilight of Courage by Bodie Thoene, Brock Thoene]()
The Twilight of Courage by Bodie Thoene, Brock Thoene
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAs the clouds of war gather over Europe, an international cast of characters faces difficult moral decisions in the growing turmoil. This suspenseful and inspiring novel of World War II brings to life the trying choices men and women faced as Europe was crushed under the boot of the conquering German army... -
![Revenge in Rubies by A.M. Stuart]()
Revenge in Rubies by A.M. Stuart
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen Harriet Gordon receives word from a friend about a tragic death, she and Inspector Curran are thrust into a web of family secrets that threatens to destroy them both in this all-new mystery from the author of Singapore Sapphire. Singapore.1910 Singapore. Harriet Gordon has found fulfillment at last. Her young ward, Will, has settled into his new home with Harriet and her brother, Julian...Categorized as:
crime cozy law-enforcement police-procedural mystery historical-fiction historical fiction -
![Seven Days in May by Fletcher Knebel, Charles W. Bailey II]()
Seven Days in May by Fletcher Knebel, Charles W. Bailey II
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratings"Gentleman Jim" Scott was a brilliant magnetic general. Like a lot of people, he believed the President was ruining the country. Unlike anyone else, he had the power to do something about it, something unprecedented and terrifying. Colonel "Jiggs" Casey was the Marine who accidentally stumbled onto the plot... -
![Villa Triste by Lucretia Grindle]()
Villa Triste by Lucretia Grindle
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFlorence, 1943. Two sisters, Isabella and Caterina Cammaccio, find themselves surrounded by terror and death; and with Italy trapped under the heel of a brutal Nazi occupation, bands of Partisans rise up. Soon Isabella and Caterina will test their wits and deepest beliefs as never before. As the winter grinds on, they will be forced to make the most important decisions of their lives... -
![Racing the Devil by Charles Todd]()
Racing the Devil by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOn the eve of the bloody Battle of the Somme, a group of English officers having a last drink before returning to the Front make a promise to each other: if they survive the battle ahead—and make it through the war—they will meet in Paris a year after the fighting ends. They will celebrate their good fortune by racing motorcars they beg, borrow, or own from Paris to Nice...Categorized as:
cozy crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense war 20th-century action-adventure -
![To the Grave by Steve Robinson]()
To the Grave by Steve Robinson
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA curiously dated child’s suitcase arrives, unannounced and unexplained, in a modern-day Washington suburb. A week later, American genealogist Jefferson Tayte is sitting in an English hotel room, staring at the wrong end of a loaded gun.In his latest journey into the past, Tayte lands in wartime Leicestershire, England...
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